This long novel follows the Stamper family, stubborn independent loggers in a small Oregon coastal town. When local workers go on strike, the Stampers keep cutting timber and refuse to join. Their defiance sets them against their neighbours, and tensions inside the family grow as a half-brother returns home with his own grudges. Kesey tells the story through shifting voices and viewpoints, with the wet forests and rivers of the Pacific Northwest almost a character in themselves. It is an ambitious portrait of pride, rivalry and individualism.